1. Area of the Art
The present invention relates to cooking appliances, and more particularly to appliances in which apertures in the bottom of a cooking pan are selectively opened and closed to provide discharge of greases and other such liquids which accumulate within the pan during the cooking process.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to provide a cooking appliance in which food is cooked in a pan having a removable lid and which is mounted on a base for collecting greases which are drained from the pan during the cooking process. U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,793 of Hu, et al. describes such a cooking appliance.
It is also known in the art to provide a pan or other cooking enclosure having apertures therein which are selectively opened and closed to drain juices, fats and the like from the cooking pan. U.S. Pat. No. 2,028,649 of Conroy discloses several different embodiments of such apparatus.
It is still further known in the art to provide various arrangements for collecting and disposing of juices, fats and other such material in cooking appliances. Examples of such arrangements are provided by U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,024 of DeMars, U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,693 of Collard et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,324 of Noh, U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,293 of Rassieur, U.S. Pat. No. 2,732,696 of Baker, U.S. Pat. No. 718,367 of Merritt, and British Patent No. 2,261,360 of Lin.